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Delhi Policewoman Finds Tradition Mightier Than The Badge

Enforcing Women's Rights at Work, Cop Faces Age-Old Home Battlefront

Indian policewoman Preeti Dhaka committed suicide, allegedly provoked by abuse from her husband. Her situation suggests many women are reluctant to ask for help despite India's push to reduce domestic and sexual violence. WSJ's Tripti Lahiri reports. Photo: Courtesy of the Dhaka family.

NEW DELHI—Policewoman Preeti Dhaka had been married nearly a month when she returned to a city pulsing with crowds of angry women last December protesting the brutal gang rape of a student on a bus.

Ms. Dhaka's regular beat was to protect women from crimes, and her heart was with the demonstrators her bosses sent her to restrain. "So many people are out here for her," Ms. Dhaka told her sister, referring to the rape...